Why Rag Dolls Are Fun and Historic to Collect

Historic, Colorful & Quaint Rag Dolls & Cloth Dolls Are Fun to Collect & Display

An old and historic toy, rag dolls have been around for a long time. Made of cloth and stuffed with leftover fabric or other materials, they are one of the oldest children's toys in existence.  Dolls made of cloth date back to antiquity.  The British Museum is home to a Roman rag doll, found in a child's grave in Egypt, dating from the 1st-5th century AD. 

A collection of various rag dolls

Rag dolls are still very popular today. One only has to do a search on Ebay to see the myriad varieties of rag dolls, cloth dolls and plush dolls available to purchase online.

Colorful rag and cloth dolls enjoy a sunny day

There are rag dolls with painted faces and embroidered faces. Some cloth dolls have painted faces or eyes, noses and lips sewn on out of cloth or even paper. Hybrid soft-sculpted dolls have cloth bodies with faces made of plastic, vinyl, bisque or other materials.

Hair is frequently made of yarn for rag dolls like Raggedy Ann, Holly Hobbie and other cloth dolls, but hair can be made of many other fabrics

Rag dolls for small children & infants

Rag dolls and cloth dolls without buttons or small parts are popular gifts for babies and are sometimes among the first gifts a child ever gets. 

Raggedy Ann Dolls

A trio of Raggedy Ann rag dolls

Raggedy Ann turned 100 in 2015 and Raggedy Andy hit the centennial mark in 2020. Johnny Gruelle drew the face on a rag doll for his daughter and soon launched a series of children's books based upon the doll. The beloved Raggedy Ann and Andy dolls have been popular with children and grown collectors ever since then,. The sheer variety of dolls that have been crafted of many different fabrics, with buttons, sewn or embroidered eyes, that are unmistakably Raggedy Ann dolls is astounding. 

Hansel & Gretel Sewn Dolls

Hansel & Gretel...and Gretel!

These Hansel and Gretel dolls from the 1940s or 1950s were cut-and-sew stuffed dolls made from a pattern printed onto fabric. The dolls and their clothes were cut out, sewn together and stuffed with cotton, fabric or other materials. The finished dolls stand around 11" tall with Hansel a little taller than Gretel.

Rag Dolls for Grown Up Collectors

Many rag dolls are made for older children and even adults. In 1989, Mattel created a highly successful Gone with the Wind series of dolls for adult collectors, and the Mamie doll was a rag doll with a vinyl head. The Holly Hobby series of rag dolls in the 1970s and 80s was a hit with grown girls as well as children. Strawberry Shortcake rag dolls appeared around the same  time. Stuffed Cabbage Patch dolls appeared on shelves. Geared towards children, they still manage to find their way into adult collectors' hands.

Stuffed Cabbage Patch Doll

Adult collectors often gravitate towards the dolls they grew up with later in life, so Raggedy Ann, Holly Hobbie, Strawberry Shortcake, Fancy Nancy, Betty Boop and other vintage or modern reproduction rag dolls frequently appear in homes where there aren't any children, often as part of holiday displays.

Plush Dolls & Soft Fabric Dolls

Rag dolls have evolved into cloth dolls and plush dolls. Several lines of soft, cloth fashion dolls have been created including the Groovy Girls, Fashion Angels, Gund Girls, Build a Bear Friends 2B dolls, some Disney dolls, and my personal favorites--the Ty Girlz. The icon of fashion dolls--Barbie Doll--has even appeared in cloth and plush forms.

Ty Girlz

Ty Girlz

The Ty Girlz were introduced to North America at the 2007 American International Toy Fair. Originally close to 14" tall, the Girlz were a bit shorter after 2008.  Some sites list them at 12". These fashion dolls featured soft fabric bodies, embroidered faces and modern clothing. They were apparently discontinued sometime between 2010 and 2012, although the Ty site listed some Ty Girlz dolls as available for several years after that, according to the Ty Collector site. My own Girlz are packed, away but I will do a Ty Girlz photo shoot soon.

Jeannie Dibble Dolls from Oklahoma

Local Handmade Rag Dolls

Some creative seamstresses craft their own beautiful rag dolls to sell in local stores and markets. These two cuties above were crafted by Jeannie Dibble in Oklahoma in the 1990s. The three dolls below were seen for sale at Belle Meade Plantation in Nashville circa 2015.

Rag dolls from Belle Meade Plantation in Nashville

Rag dolls come in a wide assortment of styles and fashions, from traditional pilgrim and prairie girls, to holiday themes, to fashion dolls. Many popular characters have been made into rag dolls. Ragdolls can celebrate a time, a place and a culture. This is why rag dolls and other cloth dolls are both fun and historic to collect.

Related Articles:

• Raggedy Ann doll celebrates 95th birthday, Raggedy Andy doll turns 90

Jeannie Dibble Rag Dolls